A Maturing Faith, Part 1: A Pleasing Walk

You know, we serve a great God that takes care of us even when we don't see it and don't

understand it. But as we get ready to move into a new year here, and you can go and start finding

your Bibles here this morning, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, as we're going to continue. It's going

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

through the book of Thessalonians here this morning. But if you haven't heard yet, there's a

new year right around the corner. You know, it seems like 2025 with the things that the events

and the challenges and the blessings, all those are moving to the past. And the course of the year

has played out. And, you know, there's no way to look back and change what happened last year.

You know, we know that that is settled. That's where it is. But we always find hope in a new year,

the year ahead, when the calendar turns. It seems to have a break in time,

going from the old to the new. And, you know, we celebrate that culturally, you know, as a...but

it's also something that God established. If you understand that it's based in a scriptural thing,

we're not on a Bible or a Jewish calendar. But, you know, God did have a new year for them. And

year by year, and they would renew those things with Him. And that time of the calendar, you know,

the first event on God's calendar was the Passover. You know, it refocused on what God

had done for us, that the blood that was shed for us, that we might be saved. You know, the Passover

was that. It was a celebration and reminder of the blood of the Lamb that was applied and allowed

death to pass over them. It was a new beginning. It separated Israel to follow the Lord, and it will

a call to walk with the Lord, and for that walk also to please the Lord. You know, the believers

at Thessalonica had begun a new life in Christ, a new walk with Him. And the Bible tells us, and Paul

commends them, he says, you've turned from idols unto the living God. And he was thankful that they

received the truth, not as it was from Him, but as it was from God. You know, it's important to

separate that because we may be the messenger, but God's Word reveals who God is. And we need to

always know that the Word of God takes precedent over everything else when it comes to the testimony

of who God is. Because we see this testimony of transformation had taken place, and their

continued hope in the coming Savior held them fast, even in the face of persecution and problems.

And that ought to help us also today to understand that we can look to the future. We can look to

what Christ has promised for us. But we're going to see here, though they were off to a good start,

you know, oftentimes people get off to a good start, but maintaining something gets a little more

challenging. And trying to maintain those things and to understand what's needed to do that. And while the

church at Thessalonica, the believers there were off to a great start, you might say spiritually walking

with the Lord and standing fast and knowing exactly what God had for them, and they were going to trust

the Lord, even though they didn't understand all the details, they said, we're going to trust God as we

walk through. But we're going to see here this morning that while they were off to a good start,

Paul's going to tell them there needs to be some maturing that takes place. Because even though

we're doing good now, we need to understand God has an expectation of continued growth in our faith

and to grow spiritually. And we find that term we're going to look at this morning is called

sanctification. You know, to be sanctified and what that means in that. And Paul's going to have that

because he says they need to grow mature practically in the application of their faith. Because our

faith isn't just something that's on the side. It isn't just a footnote to life. It isn't a secondary

things to life. Your faith has to be the primary thing in life. Because your faith being focused upon

the Lord gives us direction. And this maturing faith, I want you to understand here, if you mature in the

faith, a maturing faith is a faith that pleases God. Now that's important because a lot of people

think they're maturing. But if what you're doing in course and action of life is not pleasing to God,

you're not maturing. You may be maturing in your mind, but you're not maturing spiritually before God.

And we're going to look here this morning as we see this, because chapter four begins with a request

for them to abound more and more in the direction of the Lord. So if you found 1 Thessalonians chapter

four, let's stand together this morning in honor of the reading of the word of God. And we'll read down

a few verses here and pray. And we'll get into the main course of the service here this morning. So

it says, furthermore, then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus,

that you have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God. So you would abound more and more.

For you know the commandments we gave unto you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God,

even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know

how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence,

even as the Gentiles, which know not God. But no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter,

because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despises,

despises not man, but God, who has also given unto us his holy spirit. Let's pray. Heavenly

Father, as we come before you this morning, Lord, we just thank you for your word. Thank you for your

direction. Lord, as we look at a very important topic in our life, in our walk with you, Lord,

as it ought to please you. Lord, I pray that you just stir our hearts and minds, even here this morning,

to understand the importance of what we're looking at here today, that we ought to walk

to please you. Lord, help us to evaluate, Lord, even as we go into a new year, to evaluate

where that was, what that looked like last year, and Lord, where it needs to be

this year, not in light of ourselves, but in light of you, in light of your word. And Lord,

we just ask it all in your precious name. Amen. You may be seated. You know, as we see here this morning,

notice this, Paul tells them, he says, furthermore, furthermore then. You know, we're going to see here

that Paul challenges them. He says, furthermore, besides these things, you need to continue.

It's a moving forward, furthermore, moving forward in our walk and in our life with Christ. And the

apostle asks and invites them, he says, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus

Christ, because he wanted them to continue to grow that they may please God. Now, I want you to

understand something very important here, because sometimes we get caught up, we get, who are we

pleasing? We're concerned about, are we pleasing this person or that person? Or sometimes believers

are saying, am I pleasing what the preacher thinks? Ultimately, it doesn't matter what anybody else

thinks, but what God thinks. Because you know what? If you're pleasing God, you're going to be pleasing

to the people who want to honor God. Those things tie directly. You know, our goal is not to please

another person. Our goal is to please the Lord. And you know why the church here and the people,

the believers at Thessalonica were off to a good start. They still had to continue to mature

in their understanding and their application of truth for their life. You know, even though they'd

endured many challenges and remained faithful, you know, I want you to understand that that's good,

but you know what? Sometimes we can just be stubborn. No amens on that one? You know, sometimes instead of

trusting God, we're just stubborn. Stubbornness doesn't please God. You can be stubborn about doing

the right things, but I want you to understand God wants us to do it for the right reason.

For the reason of honoring Him. You know, because of, if you're His child, you ought to understand the

importance because He doesn't want us just to be strong-willed or stubborn. He wants us to walk

pleasing to Him. There's a difference. Both of them may look similar on the outside, but on the inside,

they're totally different things. Because one is about us and the other is about Him.

There's a distinction that you will find here. And when you called upon Him to save you, and hopefully

today you know that you're saved, because when you're saved, the Bible says the Spirit of God comes

and dwells within you, you are a new creature in Christ. Things have changed. Your direction of life

has changed. And we see here that Paul talks to them about their walk and how it ought to please

God. Look there at verse 1 here, and it says that, have you received of us how ye ought to walk and to

please God. To walk and to please God. You know, your walk needs to change in your maturity with Christ.

Your walk ought to be different because, you know, what does it mean that you ought to walk?

You know, this word here, walk in Scripture, simply refers to those things of life as you

as you navigate life, as you go down the path of life. Because every believer ought to be concerned

with their walk. And what our walk, what we ought to ask, is my walk pleasing God?

Or is it pleasing myself? Because we can have a walk that's focused on us,

or do we have a walk that's focused on God? Because notice, throughout the Bible, we find that this term

walk refers to the life of an individual, not just a short-term, but a long-term picture.

You know, you look in the book of Genesis, you find this come out very quickly in the book of Genesis.

Genesis chapter 5, verse 24, it says, Enoch walked with God. Chapter 6, verse 9, and Noah walked with God.

Genesis 5:24

Chapter 17, verse 1, and God and the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him, I am the Almighty God,

walk before me and be thou perfect. That's just a few examples that you find from Scripture.

The reality of our walk, a walk suggests progress in a direction. That direction for a believer is to

be a way that pleases God. You know, if you look in the book of Ephesians, you'll find this brought forth.

You know, Paul, as he's describing to the church at Ephesus these things, notice what he says, that ye walk

worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. A worthy walk. You know, one that's pleasing to him is a worthy

walk. And he contrasts this, and a little later in that same chapter, verse 17 says this,

walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. Paul says everybody is walking.

Everybody has a course of life. The question is, which course are you on? Because your course entails

how you think and process the things of life. Because notice here, he talks about the vanity of their mind,

their self-focused mind. Their mind is upon what pleases themselves and not what pleases God.

And he tells us in the next chapter, chapter 5 in Ephesians, verse 2, talks about there, he says,

walk in love. You know, that's the believer. He said, our walk ought to be one that exemplifies love

for God, love one for another. You know, the Bible talks about love for the brethren, those that are

saved. You know, it's like a love for family and a love for those that are saved walk hand in hand

because one might be your physical family, the other is your spiritual family. Because you've been

born into God's family at the moment of salvation. You know, it's another misconception in people's minds

that everybody's a child of God. Yes, everybody's made in the image of God, but not everybody's a child of God.

It's a family you're born into.

But every believer is to walk, to live their life, to please the Lord in all that we do in this life.

You know, your first steps with the Lord and those that follow are by faith, trusting in what God has

declared to be true. You know, we're saved by faith because we believe what God has declared about

Jesus Christ and how he accomplished what we could not, how he took his sin upon us,

died in our place, took our penalty, and rose again in victory.

That takes faith to trust what God has declared, but it's also the instruction for this life.

You know, a lot of times people get saved and it's kind of like they go, they walk a little bit and

they just sort of stay static. Their spiritual growth just plateaus. You might ask, why does that happen?

Well, it's because they're just coasting along. They're at a point where they might have got

comfortable, you know, and we could just, in my own mind, I can do kind of both sides. I can have a foot in

the world and a foot in the things of God and make it look good and we can go along and we can coast

along. But I want you to understand, God doesn't save us to be static.

Because notice, look at the end of verse one.

So that you what? You abound

what?

More and more.

Now, I don't think you have to be an English major to figure out that that's progress.

That's motion.

More and more means multiplied or growth. It means there's something to it. Now, I want you to

understand there's a big theological term in the Bible that refers to this. It's called sanctification.

And when it comes to the use of this term in the scripture, I think it's important for us to

understand because I'm going to take a moment here and explain some things I think are important because

when we hear the term sanctification, there's a lot of confusion about it because they think

anytime it says sanctification, it means exactly the same thing. But in the scripture, there's different

dynamics of sanctification. Because you can be sanctified, okay? I want you to understand when

you're sanctified at the moment of salvation, you've been set apart. When something is sanctified,

it means being set apart for service specifically to the Lord.

You know, this same term is used in the Old Testament quite a bit.

When they set up the temple and the tabernacle,

all throughout you'll find that the items,

the people, everything about it was sanctified.

It was set apart

for the Lord.

All those instruments, the priests were sanctified. You can read that that was an important part,

being set apart, separated under the Lord. All those things that were involved in it,

that's that idea. It gives us that picture. You know, even the sacrifices were sanctified,

set in place and directed by God's instruction.

sanctification. I want you to understand, anytime you find the word sanctification,

it has nothing to do with our opinion.

It has everything to do with God.

Because God is the one we're to be set apart

to.

As we get ready, you know, and it's good to think about this at the beginning of the year

because you can ask, what am I going to be set apart to for God this year?

How am I going to grow?

But I want you to understand, the Bible reveals

three things regarding this idea

of separation or sanctification.

Because when you call upon

Him to save you,

in that moment you're sanctified

positionally.

Because you've been

set in place. The righteousness

of Christ is put

on.

You are sanctified.

You're accepted in

the beloved.

You've been set apart to God.

You know,

Ephesians 1 tells us this,

it says,

To the praise and glory of His grace,

wherein He hath made us

accepted

in the beloved.

You know, 1 Corinthians 1,

1 Corinthians 1:30

verse 30,

Paul says this,

But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,

of whom God

is made unto us

wisdom and righteousness

and sanctification

and redemption.

You know, that's positionally.

When you're saved,

you are in Christ.

You are set apart

in Christ.

That's positional.

Now,

there's nothing you can

change about your position

in Christ.

But what we're talking about,

what Paul's talking about here

is what we're going to look at,

you might say,

is practical

sanctification.

Practical

sanctification.

This refers to God's will

that you walk

to please Him.

This involves

what you do

after salvation

in regards

to serving

the Lord,

to love Him

the way you ought

to love Him,

to do

those things.

And we see here

that this working

of the Holy Spirit

in the life

of every believer.

Look at verse 3

in our text there

in chapter 4,

1 Thessalonians.

He says this,

For this is the will of God,

even your what?

Sanctification.

God's will

is for you

to be sanctified.

You know,

I've had people ask me,

well, preacher,

how do you know God's will?

Well,

if you read the Bible,

God usually reveals it to you.

This is a big one,

and he says,

my will for you

is that you be separated

and your walk

would be pleasing.

That is the will

of God

for your life.

That practical

sanctification.

You know,

Philippians chapter 2,

Philippians 2:15

verse 15 talks about this.

He says this,

that ye may be blameless

and harmless,

the sons of God

without rebuke.

Now notice this,

in the midst of a crooked

and perverse nation

among whom ye shine

as lights in the world.

What's it talking about there?

It's talking about our walk.

Our walk in the world

ought to be different,

ought to be what pleases God

in the midst of a crooked

and perverse nation,

a people that are

against God.

That's practical

sanctification.

The Bible also speaks

about what we're going

to call perfect

or complete

sanctification.

Because one day

we're going to be

transformed

into his image.

The Bible makes it clear.

Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8:29

verse 29

tells us this,

for whom he did foreknow,

he also did predestinate

to be conformed

to the image

of his son,

that he might be

the firstborn

among many brethren.

I want you to understand,

God has a plan.

When you call upon him,

you become his child.

He says,

one day

you will be transformed

completely.

When we get to glory,

all the problems

of this life,

the very presence

of sin will be removed.

All the issues

we have here

will be no longer.

All those things

are gone away.

Now that we've established

that,

we can continue to see

what the Lord

is involved in

when we're talking

about mature faith

is being practically

set apart,

sanctified for God.

There's a practical element

that is involved here.

And you cannot mature

and walk in a way

that pleases the Lord

if you don't first place

the Word of God

as your authority.

You know,

I want you to understand

the importance of that

because it's not,

because really,

honoring God

is built upon

a question of authority.

Paul makes it clear.

He instructed them

in the Word of God.

He talks about

in chapter 1

that they accepted

the truth

not as the Word of men

but as the Word of God.

It was built upon

the truth

of what God

has declared.

It was built upon

what God had written,

what God had put forth

for us.

Paul was not the authority.

It was the Lord Jesus Christ.

And he's the one

who provided

all that was required

for us,

you and I,

to be saved.

He is the authority

that we look to.

You know,

think about what Jesus

told his disciples

as he was getting ready

to go to the cross

in John chapter 14,

John 14:15

verse 15.

Jesus makes this declaration.

He says,

if you love me,

keep my commandments.

What's Jesus saying?

He says,

if you say you love me,

there's authority.

Because to keep

his commandments

saying,

God,

I'm giving you

and what you've said

authority.

But you know,

the big problem

in our walk

is authority.

Authority is a big issue.

Because we either

look at the Word of God

and we look at

what God has declared

and say,

that's going to be

my authority.

That's going to be

my measuring stick.

That's going to be

what I want to have.

That's what I want

to measure up to.

This is what I want

to abound towards.

Or we're going to say

I want to abound

to what I want.

That self-authority,

the commandments

of Jesus

are for our

sanctification.

You know,

notice

what he tells them

there in verse 1.

I exhort you

by the Lord Jesus

that you have received

of us how you ought

to walk

to please

God.

You know,

think about verse 2.

for you know

what commandments

we gave you

by the Lord Jesus.

You know,

there's a lot

of confusion today

because I want you

to understand

Paul was an apostle

but Paul's authority

was rested

in Christ Jesus.

It did not rest

in himself.

Authority

is of God

and God

puts people

in different positions.

You know,

just like when God

gave you parents,

he puts your parents

in authority

over the kids.

But ultimately,

your parent

is not the ultimate

authority.

The ultimate authority

is God,

the one who gave

him that responsibility.

Gave him that

accountability.

You know,

his commands

are there for us

to know

something important.

That is to know

what holiness

looks like.

And we're going

to look here

in the rest

of this passage

that we read,

this dynamic

of holiness.

You know,

look down at verse 7

because verse 7

here gives us

the summary

here of this.

He says this,

for God hath not

called us

unto uncleanness

but unto holiness.

You notice something

there?

There's not a whole

lot of middle ground.

It's either unclean

or it's holy.

But as people

in our authority,

we like to make

a lot of mushy

in the middle.

Well,

maybe,

maybe not.

I can get by

with this

and if nobody

sees me,

I can do this.

And,

you know,

my friend over here

says this is okay.

We can go do that.

But we need to

understand

He has not

called us

to walk

in uncleanness

but to walk

in holiness.

1 Peter tells us

this in 1 Peter

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

He says,

But he which hath

called you

is holy,

so be ye holy

in all manner

of conversation.

That word conversation

is another word

for walk.

It's all those

things of life.

It's what your life

says,

what your life

declares.

And notice

his authority

here.

Peter's not saying,

I'm Peter

and you better

be holy.

What does Peter

say?

It is written,

Be ye holy

because for I

am holy.

Peter's quoting

God's declaration.

He says,

Be ye holy

because I am holy.

Peter's not having

his authority.

He's using the

word of God.

But notice

what this is.

Now notice

what he tells

us here

in verse 3.

It says,

For this is the

will of God,

even your

sanctification,

that ye should

abstain from

fornication,

that every one

of you should

know how to

possess his

vessel in

sanctification

and honor.

You know,

notice here,

your separation

to God

ties into

moral dynamics.

There's a

moral element

and that's

oftentimes where

we get into

debate.

Well,

is that moral

or not moral?

You know,

and we try to

make things

moral that

are not

and sometimes

we think things

that God has

said and try

to make it

not moral.

You say,

what do you

mean?

Well,

people call

good evil.

You know what

they're saying?

That which is

moral is not.

But notice

he says,

you should

abstain from

fornication.

This is a

word that many

try to redefine

today and

diminish

in application

because the

word has

many parts

you might

say.

The main

meaning

has to do

with illicit

behavior.

It has to do

with illicit

behavior that

is tied to

idolatry.

Now,

I want you

to understand

as you read

through the

Old Testament

you'll see

one thing

that pops

out very

clearly.

Idolatry

and immorality

walk hand

in hand.

Idolatry

and immorality

fornication

walk hand

in hand.

You know,

the main

meaning here

has that

illicit

behavior

and idolatry

in play

because physical

pleasures

have a direct

tie to

idolatry.

You know,

throughout the

Old Testament

we see that

these things

operate together

side by side.

You think about

it's the reason

for God's

judgment

on the land.

When Israel

went into

the land

coming out

of Egypt

God judged

the Canaanites

and the Hivites

and the Jebusites

and all them

because of

their idolatry

and immorality

their fornication.

When we understand

the tie

is there

and it's the

reason for

God's judgment

but just as

both the northern

kingdom of Israel

and Judah

were both judged

and put into

captivity

because of

their practice

of idolatry

that involved

fornication.

Sexual

immorality

is built

upon

idolatry.

The two

walk hand

in hand.

You never

see them

separated

from one

another

in the

scripture

because

you say

well what

do you

mean

any time

that you

have

what it

is

it's

somebody

setting up

an idol

to either

making

themselves

the idol

making

themselves

the

authority

or

they're

making

something

else

the

authority

that

gives

them

justification

in doing

what they

want to do

anyways.

You know

often times

idolatry

is just

that

it's

making

something

in what

we want

it to

be

so we

have

authority

that we

say

well look

at that

they want

us to

do

this

over here

this

religious

thing

to do

and therefore

we have

an authority

to say

we can

go do

it.

That's

idolatry

idolatry

always

takes us

away

and takes

us

into

the

dynamics

of

ourselves

and we

see here

from the

practices

you'll see

in the

Old Testament

it talks

about the

groves

and the

high

places

from the

worship

of Baal

and

Molech

all of

those

involved

prostitution

it involved

immorality

fornication

tied in

now

today

we see

the

same

occultic

and

demonic

practices

are tied

to

sensual

pleasure

it

takes

what

God

designed

to

operate

within

the

restrain

of

marriage

and

exploits

it

in

rebellion

against

the

Lord

it

simply

gives

authority

to

yourself

in

matters

of

morality

now

I

know

that's

a

hard

pill

to

swallow

because

it

hits

right

at

the

core

of

who

we

are

it

hits

right

at

the

core

of

our

sin

nature

our

selfishness

it

hits

directly

in

those

things

and

Paul

is

telling

them

here

you

guys

have

to

work

through

you

have

to

deal

with

this

you

have

to

make

sure

that

you're

not

being

drawn

away

into

it

because

people

it

gives

authority

to

yourselves

in

that

matter

of

morality

that's

the

reason

today

you

see

a

massive

rise

in

things

like

cohabitation

and

adultery

and

unnatural

affections

this

idea

here

is

very

clear

the

command

here

is

to

abstain

to

hold

off

notice

here

it

says

that

you

abstain

from

fornication

now

I want

you to

understand

something

here

because

this

this

is

important

to

understand

because

he's

not

telling

them

that

these

temptations

aren't

going

to

be

present

he

says

you

have

a

decision

to

make

how

are

you

going

to

respond

to

them

because

to

abstain

means

I may

see

somebody

else

doing

it

but

I'm

going

to

choose

to

please

the

Lord

instead

but

you

know

what

oftentimes

peer

pressure

draws

us

into

doing

what

other

people

want

us

to

do

and

you

say

well

peer

pressure

didn't

know

you

really

wanted

that

the

other

peer

pressures

gave

you

permission

because

that's

our

problem

we're

looking

for

permission

to

do

what

we

wanted

!

to

do

anyways

notice

here

what

he's

talking

about

because

he

says

the

pressures

will

be

there

but

we

need

to

have

a

responsibility

of

how

we

act

or

think

look

at

verse

4

that

every

one

of

you

should

know

how

to

possess

his

vessel

in

sanctification

and

honor

now

let me

sum

it

up

in

a

modern

term

for

it

it's

called

self

responsibility

every

person

has

a

responsibility

for

the

choices

!

that

they

make

now

often

times

that

doesn't

sit

very

good

does

it

you

know

we

don't

like

self

responsibility

you

know

we

live

in

a

generation

well

it's

not

my

fault

it's

their

fault

you

know

it's

always

somebody

else's

fault

but

you

know

what

God

says

it's

your

problem

it's

your

choice

what

are

you

going

to

do

their

own

body

including

their

thinking

and

their

actions

regarding

it

because

when

we

understand

the

nature

of

what's

transpiring

and to

whom

it

disregards

in

rebellion

against

the

commands

and

instructions

of

your

Savior

this

is

the

same

standard

for

everybody

morality

is

just

not

for

a

pastor

or

a

deacon

it's

for

every

believer

immorality

is a

problem

in

the

church

look

at

verse

5

it

says

!

not

in

the

lust

of

concupiscence

even

as

the

Gentiles

which

know

not

God

concupiscence

wonderful

word

what's

it

mean

it's

the

coveting

of

carnal

things

or

an

irregular

appetite

for

worldly

good

an

inclination

for

unlawful

enjoyment

let me

put it

this

way

it

simply

means

that

we

have

a

desire

inside

to

go

against

what

we're

told

you

ever

notice

you

tell

somebody

not

to

do

something

what's

their

first

temptation

to

do

you

know

put

something

on

a

table

and

say

don't

there's

something

inside

then

that

says

I

want

to

go

touch

that

because

I

was

told

I

shouldn't

touch

it

that's

what

this

word

is

talking

about

that

lust

and

desire

to

do

that

which

you've

been

instructed

and

know

that

is

wrong

look

over to

James

James 1 · chapter mention

chapter

1

for

a

moment

James

James 1 · chapter mention

chapter

1

in

verse

14

says

but

every

man

is

tempted

when

he

is

drawn

away

of

his

own

lust

and

enticed

then

when

lust

hath

conceived

it

bringeth

forth

sin

and

sin

what

is

unfinished

bringeth

forth

death

do

not

err

my

beloved

brother

we

have

an

inward

desire

to

do

exactly

opposite

of

what

we

ought

to

do

that's

that

sin

nature

it's

a

rebellious

nature

and

notice

what

he

says

that

we

were

operating

with

just

when

we

operate

with

just

our

own

desires

and

authority

it's

natural

it's

as

the

Gentiles

that

know

not

God

but

while

it

may

come

naturally

it

doesn't

mean

it's

justified

you know

that's

another

falsehood

today

well

it's

just

natural

to

me

just

because

something

feels

natural

doesn't

mean

it's

right

always

like

going

back

to

the

nursery

you

know

you

don't

have

to

teach

kids

to

take

toys

from

somebody

else

it's

natural

for

them

to

try

to

take

it

what

do

you

have

to

do

you

have

to

go

and

train

them

you

have

to

make

them

think

differently

about

it

because

just

because

it's

natural

doesn't

mean

it's

right

in

our

own

life

we

have

that

same

constant

dynamic

taking

place

that

passion

includes

a

desire

for

power

or

position

along

with

fleshly

desires

this

is

the

conflict

within

whether

we'll

submit

to

God's

authority

or

one

of

our

own

choosing

you

know

we

violate

the

direct

instructions

of

the

Lord

and

we're

placing

ourselves

in

authority

instead

of

him

you

know

Paul

here

is

talking

about

that

sanctification

is

maturing

in

our

walk

notice

here

in

verse

7

it

says

for

God

hath

not

called

us

unto

cleanness

but

unto

holiness

notice

what he

says

here

in

verse

8

he

therefore

that

despiseth

despiseth

not

man

but

God

who

hath

given

unto

us

his

holy

spirit

because

remember

who's

Paul

talking

to

here

he's

talking

to

believers

I want

you

to

understand

lost

people

do

what

lost

people

do

you

know

some

people

I can't

believe

somebody

would

do

that

or

commit

that

I'm

like

if

somebody

doesn't

know

the

Lord

and

they're

operating

in

their

own

dynamics

of

morality

gloves

are

off

I mean

they

could

do

all

sorts

of

atrocious

things

the reason

people

don't

like

that

is

because

it

reveals

who

they

are

well

if

that

person

can

do

that

what

does

it

say

about

me

and

that's

really

the

question

because

it's

our

sin

that

needs

to

be

dealt

with

it's

our

sin

and

that

choice

that

we

have

to

make

are

we're

going to

be

practically

sanctified

are we

going to

walk

with

him

are

you

going to

despise

the

Lord

that

saved

you

you

know

I

want

you

to

consider

that

dynamic

as we

get ready

to go

into

a

new

year

if

you

say

you're

a

believer

but

reject

the

Lord's

instructions

to be

holy

as

he

is

holy

the

Bible

says

you

despise

the

one

that

died

for

you

in

order

to

be

redeemed

the

one

who

took

care

of

your

sin

for

you

and

the

penalty

of

it

you